How to Fix Standups That Feel Like a Waste of Time
How to run a standup that actually moves work forward.
Standups often feel like a waste of time.
People give updates, but nothing actually moves forward.
Most advice says to make them shorter or more structured.
But that doesn’t fix the real problem.
If your standups feel like a waste of time, the simplest fix is deciding what actually matters before you speak.
This is one of the simplest ways to fix standups without changing your process.
Before standup, take a moment.
– What matters most right now?
– What can wait?
– What is the next useful step to move this forward?
If it doesn’t help move this forward,
leave it out.
— focus-roi.com · CC BY 4.0
Most people realise they didn’t know what mattered until they try this once.
Use it before your next standup.
If it helps, it becomes how you prepare.
This is one of several simple fixes for improving how work flows.
If this is the problem you're facing, these may help:
Standups ask for updates, but teams need direction.
“What did you do?”
“What will you do?”
“Any blockers?”
People answer, but without deciding what actually matters first.
So the meeting happens.
But direction doesn’t.
Everyone spoke. Nothing moved.
Standup Fix helps you arrive with better answers.
It’s a short reflection you do before a standup, written check-in, or team update
so you know what matters before you speak.
No changes to your process. No new system.
Common ways people try to fix standups
Most advice focuses on things like:
keeping standups under 15 minutes
giving quick updates
using a strict format
limiting discussion
These can help a little.
But even with all of this, standups still often feel repetitive or unclear.
Because the real issue isn’t the format.
It’s that people haven’t decided what actually matters before they speak.
How to fix standups that feel like a waste of time
You don’t need a full report.
Before a standup, decide:
what matters most right now
what can wait
what the next step is
When that is clear, your update becomes simple and standups usually become:
shorter without forcing it
easier to follow
focused on what actually moves forward
Most standup advice tries to improve the meeting.
This improves what people bring into it.
FAQ
What if I don’t know what to say in a standup?
That’s usually a clarity problem, not a speaking problem.
If you take a moment beforehand to decide:
what actually matters
what can wait
what the next step is
your update becomes much easier to say.
You don’t need a script — just a clear starting point.
Is it normal to prepare for a standup beforehand?
Yes.
Many people take a minute before the meeting to gather their thoughts,
review their work, or note what actually matters.
Standup Fix just makes that step simpler and more focused.
Do I need to write a full script before standup?
No.
A few clear thoughts are enough.
The goal is not to prepare a speech, just to know what matters before you speak.
What should I say in a standup?
Say what matters, not everything you did.
A useful update usually includes:
what are you trying to move forward right now?
what changed or became clearer since last time?
what’s your next step, and who owns it?
That is enough to keep the team aligned.
Will this take more time?
No.
Most people spend less than a minute thinking through these questions.
It often saves time by reducing rambling, repetition,
or trying to figure it out while speaking.
How long should a standup be?
As short as possible while still creating clarity.
When people arrive knowing what matters and what moves next,
standups often become shorter without forcing time limits.
How is this different from Movement Update?
Standup Fix happens before the standup.
Movement Update happens during it.
One helps you decide what matters.
The other helps you communicate it clearly.
How is this different from the usual standup questions?
Most standups focus on activity.
Standup Fix focuses on what actually matters and what moves forward.
It shifts the conversation from reporting → clarity → action.
Why do standups often feel repetitive, useless and like a waste of time?
Because they focus on activity instead of direction.
Repeating what happened yesterday doesn’t always help the team coordinate or decide what to do next.
This shifts the focus toward what matters now and what happens next.
Do we need to change our standup format?
No.
You can keep your standup and simply answer differently.
I already keep notes or a daily log — is this different?
It’s complementary.
Notes help you remember what happened.
Standup Fix helps you decide what matters now.
You can use both — one supports memory, the other supports clarity.
When is this most useful?
Especially when:
You’re about to speak and not sure what to say
Updates feel repetitive or unclear
Work feels busy but direction isn’t obvious
You find yourself figuring it out while speaking
It helps you arrive with a clearer starting point.
What if people answer differently?
That’s useful.
Differences often reveal where work is unclear or out of sync.
What if our standup has too many people to be useful?
That can make updates feel less relevant.
But even in larger groups,
clearer updates help people quickly understand what matters
and where they need to pay attention.
This doesn’t change who attends, it improves what is shared.
Can I use this on my own?
Yes.
Many people use it individually to decide what to focus on next.
Does this work for written or async standups?
Yes.
It works the same way. You take a moment before posting instead of before speaking.
The goal is the same:
a clearer update that helps others understand what matters and what’s next.
Is this a performance or reporting tool?
No.
It’s for clarity — not evaluation.
It’s not about tracking hours or measuring people.
It’s about making the work easier to understand and move forward.
Will this turn standup into more reporting or control?
No.
It does the opposite.
It shifts the focus away from tracking activity
and toward understanding what actually matters and what moves forward.
Our standup already feels like micromanagement — will this make it worse?
No.
This helps shift the conversation away from hours and activity
and back to progress and direction.
It’s a small way to make the standup more useful again.
What if people just say what sounds right?
That usually happens when the work itself is unclear.
This helps make thinking more concrete beforehand —
which tends to lead to clearer and more useful answers.
It’s easier to be honest when you know what you’re trying to move forward.
What happens after using it?
Standups become easier to follow.
Less time goes into reporting.
More time goes into what actually moves the work forward.
What if this doesn’t help?
Then stop using it.
That’s useful to know too.
Is this part of a larger framework?
It’s part of FOCUS-ROI, but works on its own.
No training or adoption required.
What this is / is not
This is:
A way to bring clarity into standups
A shift from activity to direction
A simple way to improve everyday coordination
This is not:
A new standup format
A reporting structure
A performance system
A small shift before you speak changes what the standup actually does.
Part of the FOCUS-ROI micro workflow library (CC BY 4.0).
Small, reusable practices for making work clearer — one moment at a time.